Silicon Valley Home Magazine, San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190. P(408)278-3464. F(408)271-3733. Email: siliconvalleyhome (at) sjmercury.com. Doug DiFranco, Editor. 85% freelance "Silicon Valley Home is a monthly magazine focusing on home and garden design trends, entertaining and travel with a focus on the upscale residents of Silicon Valley." Welcomes new writers. Circ 85K. Monthly. Pays on acceptance. Publishes ms 2-3 months after acceptance. Buys 1st N.A. and electronic rights. "Accepts reprints only if not from competing publications within our circulation area." Responds 10-14 days. Sample free by email request. Subscription available free with newspaper subscription in targeted South Bay Area zip codes. Guidelines by email or mail with SASE.
CURRENT NEEDS: "We're always interested in article ideas and unique perspectives in the areas of home and garden, furnishings, remodeling, entertaining and general lifestyle, particularly stories that showcase new and exciting new products in these genres." Pays $0.40/word for main features of 1000-1500 words, secondary stories of 750-1000 words and sidebars of 250-500 words. "Submit query/cover letter by mail or email; unsolicited mss will most likely not be read."
PHOTOS/ART: "Magazine-quality color images, preferably transparencies or slides. Digital files will be accepted if they meet our resolution/quality criteria." Payment negotiable.
HINTS: "Articles in SV HOME: Have a light, conversational style (although first-person stories are generally not published); Usually offer practical tips to readers (particularly features on home design); Focus on a very high-end readership (i.e. 'price is no object; readers); Identify design/furnishing trends appropriate to readership."

Snowshoe Magazine, 7037 South Webster Street, Littleton, CO 80128. P(303)332-4993 . Email: freelance (at) snowshoemag.com. Website: http://www.snowshoemag.com. Ryan Alford, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. 80% freelance. "Snowshoe Magazine is an online publication (with plans to go to print) that provides original content and information to a worldwide community of snowshoers. Known as the fastest growing winter sport in the United States, snowshoeing is quickly on its way to becoming an Olympic sport. The Snowshoemag.com audience is made up of first-time snowshoers, backcountry hikers, outdoor enthusiasts, competitive runners and members of the industry." Welcomes new writers. Circ. online. Monthly. Pays 30 days after publication. Publishes ms approximately 2 months after acceptance. Buys negotiable rights. Occasionally accepts reprints "depending on previous publication." Responds 2-3 weeks. Sample articles at website. Subscription free. Guidelines by e-mail.
CURRENT NEEDS: "We need writers who are looking to join a grassroots publication that is headed toward a great amount of success - this is your chance to get involved while it's still relatively small. Our content needs are diverse but also very broad - as long as it pertains to snowshoeing in some way. We tend to focus our content on health/fitness, destinations, competitive racing, advocacy (protection of the environment and open space), equipment (other than snowshoes) and any personal experience story is well received. We are looking for writers from the following regions of the United States: Northeast Region, North Central Region, Rocky Mountain Region, Western Region, and Alaska. We are also looking for writers internationally, including: Canada, Europe, Australia, South America and Asia. Snowshoe Magazine currently cannot pay for expenses related to traveling associated with writing articles and/or photography." Pays $25 for 500-1000 words; $30 for 1000-1500 words; $35 for 1500+ words. Articles may not exceed 2000 words. Submit query or complete ms by email. Complete mss must be submitted in the body of the email and as an MSWord attachment.
PHOTOS/ART: "Send in digital format, 72 dpi, .GIF or .JPG format." Pays $5/photo.
HINTS: "We love working with new writers and those who are looking for more experience. However, we expect a sense and overall familiarization of the snowshoeing sport. That doesn't mean you should be snowshoeing at all times, it's more for your edge as a writer. If you haven't snowshoed or have no relative idea of what the industry is about, go rent a pair...take a plunge in the snow...and do some Internet research. We're flexible, but we're also realistic. Keep our audience in mind; if you are writing an article that you feel is best suited for the first-time snowshoer, make your premise apparent. Communicate with our readers in the best way possible - they are a great group that has yearned for a publication like this for a long time. Before formulating an idea, put it in a query and send it our way. Or, just e-mail the publisher if you have questions about certain stories and articles that you feel would fit. We are looking for people who are eager to help us help people get off their couches, get in some snowshoes and get outside. We require patience and professionalism as we continue to grow and expand our territories and business. However, we provide content all year, 12 months, no matter the season, due to a worldwide following of northern and southern hemisphere snowshoers. Remember, we plan to provide a print version of this publication. We are heavily involved in the snowsports industries and have made the right partnerships to be able to bring this to life. Stay with us, work with us, and you will have a seat at the table when content is needed for the magazine in the near future. (Please note: Contributor's guidelines will be available soon. Also, we may ask to see writing samples.)"

What We Now Know, Casey Research, LLC, 166 South Main St., Suite 2B, Stowe, VT 05672. Email: feedback (at) caseyresearch.com. Website: http://www.caseyresearch.com. Shannara Johnson (all submissions). 50% freelance. "What We Now Know is a free weekly trend e-letter that provides readers with the latest information on what's going on in the world...from U.S. internal and foreign politics to investment and economic issues to health topics, technologytrends, and general interest stories. Our political stance is somewhere between government-critical and neutral; our group of readers is very versatile, but with a slight emphasis on middle-aged/mature persons with a conservative view. Our writers ideally should have a few years of professional writing experience, i.e. in journalism or other fields of writing." Circ. 130K. Weekly. Pays the first week of the month for articles published the previous month. Publishes ms 1-3 weeks after acceptance. Buys one-time rights. Rarely accepts reprints. Responds 1 week. Sample articles online at http://www.caseyresearch.com/wwnkArchives0.php. Subscription free. Guidelines not available.
CURRENT NEEDS: "We very much appreciate self-starters, meaning writers who suggest stories on their own, but at times we also assign articles that we would like to see. What we are mainly looking for is a handful of good freelance writers we can establish a long-term relationship with and that are flexible enough to write on different topics. Our main concern is to keep our newsletter fresh and interesting and provide unusual angles to our stories; as to the topics--the sky is the limit. Past stories have ranged from 'A Nation Behind Bars' (about the vast number of prisoners in the US) and 'The Science Behind Obesity' to 'Osama's Navy Sets Sail' (about the possibility of a new terrorist attack in our ports) to 'Fishy Business' (about mercury levels in tuna and artificial pink color in salmon). However, we DO NOT publish articles about the entertainment industry, music, the movies, or personal stories/op-ed columns." Pays flat fee of $150 for 400-1000 words (average article length is 500-800 words). Submit query by email. "New contributors should send a short bio and one work sample; they should also indicate what kind of topics they plan to write about. Please keep your queries etc. brief--we're very busy."
PHOTOS/ART: N/A
HINTS: "Controversial articles (see our archive samples) are okay, but within limits... we ARE NOT interested in opinion pieces or political rants of any kind, and if you found out that Donald Rumsfeld is the commander of a reptilian race from space (didn't we know it all along?), please keep that to yourself, too. What is important to us is that our articles are well-researched and supported by facts and figures. Contributors should try to make sure that their information comes from reputable sources and not from some dubious conspiracy website. That's it... we look forward to hearing from you."